Letters to the Editor - 1/20/2013

Editor: The absurdity that your Jan. 16 editorial attributes to the arbitration ruling against the police chief performing routine patrols is misplaced. Many union contracts have specific clauses, which give the union a monopoly on work assigned to them.

Such clauses may be difficult to eliminate in closed-shop states, like Pennsylvania. I wonder what your position is on converting Pennsylvania to a right-to-work state, like Michigan recently had done.

With other states and developing countries becoming more competitive, Pennsylvanians are confined to educating our children and then watching them leave for better opportunities.

ANTHONY DePAOLA

SCRANTON

Relative ignorance

Editor: Two items in a Jan. 18 article requires clarification from the Scott Twp. supervisors.

The article lists township roads that are going to be re-paved, either due to years of neglect or because of damage resulting from the installation of the sewer lines. Missing from this list is East Ackerly Road. This road has been reduced to a deplorable state as a result of the sewer project, Some of the other roads listed for repaving are in far better condition than East Ackerly Road. Township supervisors should explain why this road is not being re-paved.

The other item involves the resignation of the township's real estate tax collector. According to the article, the supervisors stated they did not know if the person who resigned and her appointed replacement were related. This, at best, is an evasive response. I would be surprised if fewer than a majority of the supervisors know that the two people are related.

I sincerely hope that this is not just another case, albeit minor, of typical Lackawanna County back-door political maneuvering, where constituents interests are secondary to maintaining political cliques.

JIM PAOLUCCI

SCOTT TWP.

Care high priority

Editor: Animal care and handling in the agriculture industry is a hot button item these days. As a farmer and producer of beef products, I'd like consumers to know that animal care is an obligation, not an option.

Farmers and ranchers take this mantra to heart, and put it to practice when they take on the responsibility of raising a food source for their family and for the public. The beef industry, producers across the country, have developed many extensive training programs that teach producers the most humane ways to handle and care for the animals they raise. One, the beef quality assurance program, is a training tool funded by farmers and ranchers themselves. Open to the public, it is an excellent guide to humanely raising safe food products.

We also believe that healthy food comes from healthy animals. It does nothing to benefit our livelihood by improperly caring for our animals. There are very strict government regulations concerning medications, feedstuffs, and approved meat processing techniques that all who are involved in the meat industry must adhere to.

A farm or ranch is not just a way of life; it's also a business and in many cases a family's main source of income. Any variable such as animal care that affects the product is not something to mess around with.

STACYLYN SNYDER

SCOTT TWP.

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